ÖÖI 8x 3 ^c- 0 - Acehbooks.org

Situation of
ilieRcjang
country.
Perfons of the
inhabitants.
General description.
38 S U M A T R A .
from thofe which are borrowed ; and of courfe, what I fhall fay of the
Rejangs, will apply for the moil part, not only to the Sumatrans in general,
but may fometimes be, in ftriclnefs, proper to the Malays alone,
and by them taught to the higher rank of country people.
•
The country of the Rejangs is divided, to the north weft, from the
kingdom of Anae Soongey (of which Moco Moco is die capital) by the
fmall river of Oori, near that of Cattown; which laft, with the diftrict
of Laboon on its banks, bounds it on the north or inland fide. The
country of Moofee, where Palembang river takes its rife, forms its limit
to the eaftward. Bencoolen river, precifely fpeaking, confines it on the.
fouth eaft; though the inhabitants of the diftrict called Lemba, extending
from thence to Siltbctr, are entirely the fame people, in manners and
language. The principal rivers, befides thofe already mentioned, are
Laye, Policy, and Soon^eylamo; on all of which the Engliih have fa&ories,
the refident or chief being ftationed at Laye.
The perfons of the inhabitants of the ifland, though differing confiderably
in diftricts remote from each other, may in general be comprehended
in the following defcription; excepting the Achenefe, whofe
commixture with the Moors of the weft of India, has diftinguiftied them
from the other Sumatrans.
They are rather below the middle ftature ; their bulk is in proportion ;
their limbs are for the mod part flight, but well fliaped, and particularly
fmall at the wrifts and ankles. Upon the whole they are gracefully
formed, and I fcarcely recoiled: to have ever feen one deformed perfon,
of the natives.* The women, however, have the pi epofteroüs cuftom
of flattening the nofes, and compreffing the heads of children newly
* Ghirardini, an Italian painter, who touched £f Sumatra on his way to China in 169S, obferves
of the Malays,
Son di perfona ta/,10 ben formata
Quanto mai finger fan pittori indujlrl.
Hsfpeaks in high terms of the country, as being beautifully pi&uiefcjuc,
born,.